Online organic intellectuals: shoring up neo-liberalism in Brazil.

This article analyses the role of online organic intellectuals in the consolidation of Bolsonarism within Brazil's ongoing neo-liberal order. Drawing on the Gramscian concept of passive revolution, it argues that far-right digital influencers act as key ideological mediators, channelling popular dis...

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Published in:International Affairs Vol. 102; no. 2; pp. 579 - 599
Main Author: Gontijo, Caio
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Mar2026
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Online organic intellectuals: shoring up neo-liberalism in Brazil.
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        au: Gontijo, Caio
        affil: University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
      su:
        Brazil
        Bolsonaro, Jair, 1955-
        Right-wing populism
        Virtual culture
        Hegemony
        Right-wing extremists
        Neoliberalism
      sug:
        subj:
          Right-wing populism
          Virtual culture
          Hegemony
          Right-wing extremists
          Brazil
          Neoliberalism
          Bolsonaro, Jair, 1955-
      keyword:
        Bolsonarism
        copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs
        copyrightYear:2026
        inLanguage:en
        neo-liberalism
        Organic intellectuals
        passive revolution
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf269
        Bolsonarism
        copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs
        copyrightYear:2026
        inLanguage:en
        neo-liberalism
        Organic intellectuals
        passive revolution
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf269
      ab: This article analyses the role of online organic intellectuals in the consolidation of Bolsonarism within Brazil's ongoing neo-liberal order. Drawing on the Gramscian concept of passive revolution, it argues that far-right digital influencers act as key ideological mediators, channelling popular discontent, resentment and anti-systemic affect into cultural and moral narratives that ultimately stabilize the existing political economy. Rather than disrupting neo-liberalism, these figures repackage its legitimacy crisis through nationalist, anti-globalist and culturally conservative frames. The analysis traces this process in Brazil's recent political trajectory, from the gradual exhaustion of Lulism to the rise of Bolsonarism, showing how elite economic interests have been rearticulated through new forms of digital ideological production. By foregrounding the cultural work of Brazil's far-right influencers, the article highlights how neo-liberalism is able to renew itself through its crises. The findings speak to broader trends in contemporary capitalism, offering insight into how far-right media ecosystems help to (re)forge hegemonic stability across other liberal democracies facing similar political circumstances.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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